Jack Daniel’s Just Dropped 5 Batches of Hazmat-Proof Rye Whiskey — But They’re Going to Be Hard to Get

(Photo: Jack Daniel’s)

On Tuesday, Jack Daniel’s unveiled its latest high-proof rye whiskey with a five batches of rye drawn from three different warehouses, highlighting how barrel location can shape whiskey.

The release pulls from Coy Hill, Boiler Hill and Fire Brigade Fields, bringing together 129 barrels filled between 2016 and 2017 and aged for an average of 10 years. Two batches come from Coy Hill, long known for producing some of the distillery’s most intense barrels, while the remaining three spotlight newer, less familiar aging locations.

Each batch is bottled at hazmat barrel proof, ranging from 142.7 to 146.1.

“I believe our Tennessee Rye Whiskey recipe is among the most exciting innovations to come out of the Jack Daniel Distillery in the past two decades,” Master Distiller Chris Fletcher said in a news release. “In recent years, we began to identify barrels at some of our hidden gem barrelhouses that were simply too low-yielding for other bottlings like Bonded Rye and Single Barrel Rye, but had the potential to produce high character whiskey. This small batch release truly showcases how place and time can create intense, bold flavor that is unmistakably Jack.”

Each whiskey is distilled from the brand’s standard rye mashbill (70% rye, 18% corn, 12% malted barley) and undergoes the usual charcoal mellowing process before aging in new oak. Rather than positioning this as a traditional, note-heavy release, the emphasis is on bold structure, high proof, and the influence of place on flavor development.

Like many of the brand’s most sought-after drops, availability is extremely tight. The 375-milliliter bottles are priced at $64.99 each and are available exclusively at the White Rabbit Bottle Shop at the distillery in Lynchburg starting Tuesday.

The release builds upon previous high-proof rye releases like last year’s Tanyard Hill.

We had a chance to taste one of the whiskeys — Jack Daniel’s Special Release Small Batch Rye Boiler Hill Batch 2 — in a virtual tasting led by Fletcher and came away highly impressed. Keep your eyes peeled for our review coming soon.